I've never made bread pudding! I've devoured it in restaurants but never made it! What a delight that Lauren selected this recipe.

I picked up this lovely and huge brioche from my local Italian deli (and had to pick up their famous sandwich while I was there...you know, stimulating the local economy and all). Isn't it a beauty? After weighing it, I figured I should use half of the brioche (AKA butter delivery device).

After toasting the brioche pieces for 10 minutes at 350 degrees, I just wasn't sure how much bread you should have in a bread pudding! :) Once I poured the custard mixture on the bread, I felt they were swimming and cut up another quarter of the brioche (so I used a total of 18 ounces or 3/4 of the loaf).

Only after 30 minutes did I realize I probably didn't need the extra bread as the bread is a super sponge that absorbed most of the custard mixture. (See, I told you I haven't made bread pudding before...)

I brought it into work and suggested a 10 second zap in the microwave. Those 10 seconds made all the difference in the world. It softened the custard a bit and just made the whole bread pudding sing.

Your pudding looks so nice...(mine tasted very good, but wasn't especially pretty!) And I think you (and everyone else who used bread that they bought or creative leftovers) are closer to the spirit of bread pudding than those of us who ruined, or at least mis-treated, a perfectly lovely loaf of homemade bread! It's like brioche eing a butter and egg delivery service...bread pudding should probably be a recycling project (but in a good way!)

Wow, this looks fabulous, like something i'd order at a restaurant for sure! I wish i had an italian deli near me that sells brioche like that. I'm going to check Dorie out on twitter, thanks for the info :)

LOL I love your caloric equation! What a hoot! So dangerous huh? You are so, or maybe I should say your coworkers are so lucky. Looks like a lovely loaf of bread....WOW! must have been a great sandwich, the economy and all he he Your BP looks delish and I thought it to be a yummy morsel as well. Chocolate and all.AmyRuth

What gorgeous bread pudding! I can almost hear it singing from here. I tell you what, if I was able to buy bread that beautiful where I live, I don't think I'd ever bake it. I liked this best warm as well -- 10 seconds on the microwave sounds about perfect to me!

Mmm, your bread pudding looks totally fabulous! That brioche was gorgeous to begin with, but in a chocolate bread pudding, well, it just takes on a new and wonderful identity. I'm sure everyone at work was thrilled with you for bringing this in!

That brioche is gorgeous! What Italian deli did you get it from? I feel like I drove all over LA and couldn't find brioche, although I did find some cranky Russian bakers who were mad I wouldn't buy their bread. Ah, fair city.

Liz, I picked up my Brioche in the South Bay at the Giuliano's Delicatessen and Bakery in Gardena.1138 W Gardena BlvdGardena, CA 90247(310) 323-6990

(Get the torpedo sandwich while there!) Also, Gardena is the original and I've heard that the Torrance location with the same name is a different owner. I don't know if they have brioche. I called Gardena before picking it up so they put it aside for me. I don't remember exactly, but it was under $6.00 for the huge loaf.

tried making this today from Dorie's Baking book. It was horrible. I don't understand what was wrong, but it was kind of tasteless. It didn't seem to have enough sugar (I did not apply the powdered sugar). The recipe said 1/2 cup sugar. Was there a typo?I used home made brioche- it did not have much sugar in it- was the trick in getting a brioche that was sweet?

Awful though...everything soaked correctly, but the thing was tasteless, and the chocolate did not improve it.